Valley Springs Manor Senior Care Home Had Long List of Violations

The California Department of Social Services had this week moved to revoke the license for a Castro Valley assisted living facility where patients were allegedly left with inadequate care this weekend, a department spokesman said tonight. The department on Monday issued a temporary suspension order on the license of Valley Springs Manor, as well as the licenses for associated facilities in Oakland and in Modesto, that took effect Thursday, according to spokesman Michael Weston.

The facility came to the attention of law enforcement today after responders to a medical call found a skeleton staff struggling to care for around 14 elderly residents, according to Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson. The patients were moved out to hospitals and other locations and sheriff’s officials launched an investigation that could potentially result in elder abuse charges, Nelson said. Weston said county social services officials, working in cooperation with his department, had checked on the facility as recently as this morning and understood the patients would be cared for over the weekend while new places were found for them. “I can tell you that the department has been engaged with this facility for quite a while and there is a history of concerns,” Weston said. “Apparently what happened is that the facility staff felt that they were starting to lose the capability to care for these individuals, so they called for help,” Weston said of today’s events.

State officials revoked the license for the Castro Valley facility at 17926 Apricot Way and for Eden Manor, a facility at 3121 Fruitvale Avenue in Oakland, effective Thursday evening, according to a complaint filed Monday. A facility in Modesto was also included in the complaint. All three were operated by Herminigilda “Hilda” N. Manuel and Mary Julleah N. Manuel, according to the complaint. The complaint alleges a long list of violations at all three facilities, some of them dating back as far as 2008. Many of the allegations include issues such as failing to conduct criminal background checks on employees and properly train employees to making false statements to regulators, as well as problems with maintenance and cleanliness.

However, other alleged incidents include patients failing to receive necessary medications and suffering diabetic episodes or seizures as a result, and patient falls and injuries that weren’t treated or reported properly. Some patients were moved from one facility to another without being given a choice and without proper notification of family members, the complaint alleged. Regulators found alleged fire regulation violations at the Castro Valley facility in March including doors that locked patients inside and obstructed pathways.

At least one client with dementia was insufficiently supervised and had to be returned to the Castro Valley facility by police, the complaint alleged. By the middle of this month, regulators found insufficient staff at all three facilities to provide basic care for patients. “There was only one caregiver, one cook, one assistant cook and one housekeeper to care for 24 residents on Sept. 30, 2013,” the complaint alleges. State officials are seeking to permanently revoke the licenses for all three facilities and to prohibit Hilda Manuel and Mary Manuel from further employment or contact with any facility licensed by the Department of Social Services.